I continue to appreciate the breadth of information sharing which occurs on these forums. There is great thanks to all who respond.

My wife is looking to sign a 12-month contract starting March 1st 2013. Her passport expires at the end of April, 2014.

I understand that when you travel as a tourist, many countries require that your passport does not expire for another 6 months past the visit arrival/departure.

Does the same rule apply for a work visa situation such as this? Or is it sufficient to operate with this passport since it expires after the completion of the final date on the contract, and she can then renew partway through the contract or after the contract is complete?

Anyone with personal experience or is aware of similar situations others have been through, your advice will be greatly appreciated.

many countries require that your passport does not expire for another 6 months past the visit arrival/departure.

I have never heard about this in regards to AFTER the contract period is over (usually they want enough blank pages in the passport). If you send a scan of the front page with the passport photo and dates to a recruiter, they would be the best ones to validate this concern.

When I was in Japan, I went to the American Embassy and showed that my passport expired and they just gave me a form to fill out, probably paid some processing fee, and then it was delivered to my apartment.

It's not an issue. Worst case scenario (which doesn't sound like it is in this case for the first contract), is you have to carry around 2 passports-- the expired one (with the visa stamped in it) and your new one.

I continue to appreciate the breadth of information sharing which occurs on these forums. There is great thanks to all who respond.

My wife is looking to sign a 12-month contract starting March 1st 2013. Her passport expires at the end of April, 2014.

I understand that when you travel as a tourist, many countries require that your passport does not expire for another 6 months past the visit arrival/departure.

Does the same rule apply for a work visa situation such as this? Or is it sufficient to operate with this passport since it expires after the completion of the final date on the contract, and she can then renew partway through the contract or after the contract is complete?

Anyone with personal experience or is aware of similar situations others have been through, your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to you

It's not a problem. My passport expires a month after my contract. If she wants to stay a second year, she can renew her passport at her embassy in Korea.

I continue to appreciate the breadth of information sharing which occurs on these forums. There is great thanks to all who respond.

My wife is looking to sign a 12-month contract starting March 1st 2013. Her passport expires at the end of April, 2014.

I understand that when you travel as a tourist, many countries require that your passport does not expire for another 6 months past the visit arrival/departure.

Does the same rule apply for a work visa situation such as this? Or is it sufficient to operate with this passport since it expires after the completion of the final date on the contract, and she can then renew partway through the contract or after the contract is complete?

Anyone with personal experience or is aware of similar situations others have been through, your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks to you

NOT an issue.

For visas with a duration of longer than 6 months they will give the visa for the length allowed OR until the passport expires - whichever comes first.

Since her passport will expire AFTER her visa ends there is no problem.

IF she thinks she may want to spend more time abroad then, depending on her nationality (pain the the azz for Brits to apply for a new passport from abroad) she may want to get a new passport BEFORE she applies for her visa.

Otherwise, she can come, go to work and AFTER she gets her ARC, apply for a new passport.

When it arrives she will have to take the old passport, new passport and ARC down to immigration and update her file (legally required to be done within 15 days of getting the new passport (since the old passport is canceled by the embassy when the new one is issued).